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For thousands of years the world has been explored and developed, and its trading activity has been conducted primarily by ships. As you might expect, countless vessels have been lost to hurricanes and treacherous reefs, to battle and disaster. So much of mankind's history lies buried beneath the sea, from the unparalleled Phoenicians and ruthless Conquistadors, to the fearless Vikings and lethal Swedish Man-O-Wars. Every ship that went down is a history book, waiting to be opened. Until this century these wrecks lay obscured beneath sand and silt, long since forgotten. The science of nautical archaeology has pried open these windows to times of yore and presented to the world an unbelievably rich history. Modern technology has enabled nautical archaeologist to recover pieces of history that are vital in understanding who we are and where we came from. Ancient stories and legends have been substantiated and long held theories have been discredited as nautical archaeologists recover humankinds history from the sea. They bring the distant past and modern world together and have permitted us to experience them both.
